All This Time

PROLOGUE: SOLEIL

February 2021

“What are you doing here?” Soleil asked, surprised to see him again after so many years.

“My friends are here,” Parker replied defensively while staring at her. He couldn’t believe he was seeing her again.

“I realize that but... I didn’t really expect you to come. Sorry, I-I..”, Soleil trailed off as she felt her cheeks reddening, and she looked down at her feet. She couldn’t meet Parker’s eyes.

“It’s good to see you, Sunny,” Parker said plainly.

He actually sounds sincere.

Sunny. It’s been a while since she heard someone call her that, Soleil mused internally. Soleil Ramirez glanced at Parker Kim’s face. There was no trace of resentment or bitterness in his handsome features. She missed that boyish grin and wavy hair of his. It’s been too long... But she wasn’t really ready to face him, not after how they ended things... Or, probably not ended things is the better term, she corrected the thought.

“It’s good to see you, too, Parker, how have you been? It’s been so long.”, she replied. She was fully aware that her face is now beet red, she could feel her cheeks flaming more. Damn this face. Of all the things she could have had -- a dimpled cheek, a cute button nose, freckled skin…her face came with a very obvious tell when she felt embarrassed instead.

“Too long... Indeed.” Parker said while staring off behind her. There was a very painful silence between them for several seconds when he seemed to collect his thoughts and directed his eyes to her again. “So, are you still together with, uh, Tanner?” He asked pointedly.

Please just swallow me whole, ground. Make me disappear. Why is he so blunt?! Soleil was shouting in her mind.

Soleil shook her head and looked down again, “N-no. We broke it off a few months ago.” She wasn’t sure why she felt nervous, but her heart was beating very fast, she felt her ribcage shaking with all the drumming her heart is doing. I hope he can’t hear that.

“I see, that’s very... Unfortunate?” Parker ended the statement like a question; like he wasn’t sure he said the correct thing. He was staring off somewhere behind her like her answer didn’t matter. He seemed disinterested in what she was saying.

Soleil smiled wistfully. “Ah, well... it was for the best. Things... weren’t working out...” she trailed off again. Because HE did not trust me even after all these years. But Parker doesn’t need to know that. Soleil added to herself.

“I see. Well, I...” Parker was about to say, but a group of guys came out of the villa where the party for our group was being held,  and the guys were laughing boisterously and interrupted what Parker was about to say. They both glanced at the group of guys laughing by the door.

I what? I what?? What were you about to say?!

“Sorry Sunny,” Parker turned back to Soleil, “I need to join the gang, I’ll… catch you later,” Parker murmured and slowly turned around to join his friends.

Soleil sighed in relief as she watched Parker walk away. It was hard to see him, but maybe this is better.

After all these years, Soleil never really forgot about Parker. She remembered how he was so cheerful and innocently sweet. Something changed in his demeanor; he doesn’t seem to be the same person he was years ago.

13 years ago - SOLEIL

“Don’t let your guard down, they seem cute and all, but they’re a rowdy bunch. Chaos EVERYWHERE. But these are good kids, just… chaotic.” Mina, a co-teacher of Soleil who taught English whispered hurriedly as she passed by Soleil to let her take over the class she just finished.

Soleil was standing by the door of her first-ever class, as the new Art teacher for all the sections in the whole upper school level. This was the classroom of the last section of grade 10, the Juniors, and she’s heard a great deal about the students of this class so she was not looking forward to teaching this particular section.

Soleil nodded slowly while scanning the room. There was a platform at the front of the classroom with a blackboard mounted on the wall, and a teacher’s table right beside it. In front of the teacher’s table were the rows of seats of students, they were all busy with other things and didn’t notice Soleil come in. “Anyone I should watch out for specifically?” Soleil whispered back while re-arranging the documents she had in her hand.

“Hmm.. Hyun Min is a bit skeevy, he’s quiet for the most part, but when he talks, it’s just creepy.” Mina shuddered while looking at a heavy-built student with damp bushy hair and a surly-looking face at the end of the rows of seats. He seemed to be the farthest away from the teacher’s table.

“Okay, gotcha. Who can I speak with to assist with this class?” Soleil asked, curious. Mina just stepped out to the corridor and was about to close the door when she paused and turned around.

“Oh wait, I forgot.” Mina hit her forehead suddenly. “Where is he?” she pronounced the "he" slowly while peering in the room again. “Ya! No Pi!” Mina shouted out of nowhere.

Soleil jumped at the very loud thump sound that came from under a desk in front of the teacher’s table near the front. The desk was obscured from Soleil’s view because of the teacher’s table, but she heard a voice complaining loudly from behind it.

“Aaaa-iiish!” a boy’s voice, deep and annoyed came from under the table.  He must have hit his head. Soleil thought while suppressing a giggle.

“Po Mi, come here,” Mina commanded sweetly.

A head popped up from under the desk, and Soleil could see that he had a pleasant face, although at the moment, it was screwed up in pain. The boy stood up and Soleil could see that he was at least a head or two taller than her. Po Mi came forward and was still wincing, but when he saw Soleil, his face lighted up with a bright smile. The boy had a very handsome face – a strong jaw, dark skin, dyed brown hair, and his eyes were very animated, almost sparkling.

“This is Parker Kim a.k.a Po Mi, the class president. I call him Po Mi because he’s unnecessarily tall, that’s Korean for tall. Haha!” Mina said jokingly while lightly punching Parker in the arm. Soleil looked at the boy in front of her as he bowed his head in greeting. Smiling at him, Soleil had no idea how much this person will later change her life.

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“Hello saem.” He greeted with respect. Soleil noticed he used the Korean slang for teacher, “saem” instead of the usual “Miss”

“Hi Parker, is that your English name?” Soleil asked while checking the list of students’ names in her folder.

“Yes, miss... uh..” he trailed off, uncertain.

“Soleil, miss Soleil.” Okay Parker, what’s your real name?” Soleil continued.

“Kim Jun, miss.” He replied with a smile. He really had a sweet face, with a boyish grin a small dimple at the side of his mouth, Soleil couldn’t help but appreciate his features. For a Korean, he seemed so different.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Hey Po Mi, make sure Miss Soleil doesn’t get a headache because of your class.”

Parker stood straight and greeted a salute to Mina as a goodbye. Mina was laughing as she went out the door.

“O-kaaaay. Time to start, then.” Soleil faced her class for the first time, tapped the board, and wrote her name to signal the start of the class.

“Miss. Miss!” a few minutes after discussion, a boy came forward and leaned against the teacher’s table in front of Soleil. “Saem!!” several other students started flocking towards Soleil. She blinked up in surprise and scooted farther, almost hitting the board in doing so.

“Yes?” Soleil asked, glancing at the crowd of boys in front of her.

“Miss, are you Filipino? Are you from this country? How old are you? Are single?” the barrage of questions came suddenly, Soleil was taken aback.

“YA! Back off!” someone suddenly shouted. Parker came in to view as he came near the teacher’s table and began pushing the other students back in their seats. “No harassing the teacher, sit down, guys, you’re supposed to be writing.” Parker urged the class.

“Hey, we’re just asking some questions.” A girl with long wavy hair complained.

“Yeah!” chimed the other students. They were all pushing forward to get near Soleil.

“It’s okay, Parker, thank you,” Soleil said in gratitude. She was flattered they were interested in her, but they seem to be asking all the personal questions. Parker stared at Soleil, then bowed, deflated. Soleil flashed a smile at Parker, and his face lit up.

“You’re really pretty, saem!” the girl with the long, wavy hair, burst out. Her nameplate said Trina S.

Soleil smiled at the girl, “Thank you, Trina. I’ll be happy to answer your questions, provided you ask one at a time.” Soleil faced the class again.

“I’d also like to know more about you guys, so let’s make an effort to get to know each other, okay?”

“Ye-essss!” the class answered.

An hour of class passed and Soleil was already familiar with most of the students. She noticed that Hyun Min was quiet and seems to be having a gloomy mood, so she kept her distance from him for now.

As she was tidying up her desk, Parker came forward and smiled at her, helping her clear out the materials that they used for the class.

“Thanks, Parker, I appreciate it.” Soleil smiled back.

“Sure, saem.” Parker replied. I’ll help you carry these down.”

Parker turned to the class and instructed them to wait for the next teacher before helping Soleil out the door.

“So, Parker, have you lived here in the Philippines long?” Soleil said lightly to start a conversation. The two of them were walking slowly towards the faculty room and although it wasn’t uncomfortable, she wanted to try and engage a conversation with Parker to pass the time.

“Yes miss, around…15, 16 years, maybe?” Parker mused.

“Really? How old are you when you relocated here? Do you know how to speak Tagalog?” Soleil asked, interested.

“Kon-tee lung,” Parker said in an awkward accent while holding his fingers close together to gesture. Soleil laughed lightly. “That’s good! Haha”

“Do I sound funny?” Parker asked good-naturedly.

“Only a little bit”, Soleil answered honestly. Then they both burst out laughing.

“I’m 17, by the way, miss. How old are you? You look young.” Parker observed.

“I’m… 21? Wait, I forgot, what the heck.” Soleil slapped her forehead in confusion. “21, yes. I had to count in my head, my goodness.” Soleil laughed at herself.

“Saem, you seem… different. I like that you’re honest.” Parker suddenly said seriously.

Soleil was surprised as she looked at Parker, he was looking directly at her, eyes focused and although he was smiling, it didn’t seem to reach his eyes. It looked like he was studying her, Soleil suddenly felt embarrassed, although she couldn’t understand why. Her cheeks were tinged with pink as she met Parker’s eyes.

“You seem different”, he repeated. “I can’t put my finger on it, but you do.”

“T-thanks,” Soleil responded awkwardly. They reached the door to the faculty room, thankfully. She could feel her cheeks flaming more under the scrutiny of Parker’s eyes. She could feel him staring at her and was painfully aware that there was some tension in the air.

When she looked at Parker, he suddenly changed his expression and smiled widely. “Welcome to Ridgeview High, saem!” He said enthusiastically while handing Soleil her things. “We can’t go inside the faculty room so I can’t carry it all the way to your desk, sorry.” He said apologetically.

“That’s okay, thanks for your help, Parker. It was nice to meet you.” Soleil held her hand out.

Parker grabbed her hand gently, but she could feel the tension in his arms when their skin touched. He seemed to stare at her, but then he smiled again and turned away.

Soleil was looking at the back of Parker’s head, lost in thought when he suddenly turned around and said, “You look cute when you blush, Miss Soleil.” He grinned and waved then he ran off towards the stairs.

Soleil’s face turned crimson as she stared after Parker.

“So… how was your first class?” It was lunchtime and Mina was already grilling Soleil about Class D. They were eating lunch with a few other teachers and were having a conversation. Mina turned to Soleil “Were they okay? How was Hyun Min? They’re a riot, aren’t they?” she asked eagerly.

“Mmm, it went okay, Hyun Min was quiet, so I didn’t get the chance to speak with him yet.” Soleil answered in between bites. She was eating pasta, which was good, considering it was cafeteria food. Mina was talking animatedly and was telling everyone at the table about what happened in English class with Class A.

“They seem so cold, you know like they’re all staring at you and judging you, brrr! It’s very different from Class D, I tell you.” She continued.

“They’re a serious bunch, for sure.” Tanner, a Math teacher, commented. He looked at Soleil and smiled. So, the chaos class didn’t give you a hard time?” He asked Soleil suddenly. He kept glancing at Soleil throughout lunch, so she was wondering if he was curious about her class. He was a good-looking guy, tall, fair-skinned, with dark straight hair that swept his eyes. He was wearing thin-rimmed circular glasses that complimented his somewhat solemn expression.

“No, not really, they were just very eager to ask some personal questions.” Soleil laughed.

“Like what?” Tanner asked, curious.

“Like my age, nationality, marital status, those kinds of questions,” Soleil replied.

“Ah, you do look like a foreigner, that’s why,”  Tanner stated. He gave Soleil a small smile. “They’re good kids, very rambunctious though, haha.” He ended, swinging his fork for emphasis.

Soleil smiled back at Tanner and said, “So I’ve heard.” Tanner glanced back at Soleil and smiled again.

After lunch, Mina pulled Soleil aside to ask, “Hey, do you like Tanner??” Mina looked anxious.

“I just met the guy, so I haven’t really made an assessment, but he looks okay. Why?” Soleil asked, suspicious. “Do YOU like him?” she added.

“Noooo. No. Not me. But Ms. Vega, Kara, that music teacher, she’s super into Tanner. And that girl is cray-cray oh my goodness. She acts like she owns the guy when they’re not even dating.” Mina continued in a hushed whisper. “Have you met Kara?” she asked.

“Not yet, but I suspect I will this afternoon, it’s the first department meeting for me so I guess I’ll see her there.” Soleil mused.

“Well, I’m just saying, don’t trust her. She looks sweet, she’s a wolf hiding under a sheep’s skin…” Mina trailed warningly.

Soleil smiled, “You and your analogies, Mina. Thanks for the warning, but I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”

Famous last words.

“I saw you, you know.” She whispered menacingly.

“W-what do you mean?” Soleil asked, bewildered.

Soleil was being pinned on the wall by the music teacher, Kara Vega, both arms at the side of Soleil’s body, barring her from passing by.

Soleil was on the way to the Special Subjects Department meeting, which was being held in the H.E. room, which was located behind a hidden door to keep students from entering without permission. She was suddenly yanked by the arm and dragged in the hidden corridor and was surprised to come face to face with Kara Vega, the music teacher Mina and Soleil were just talking about earlier.

“I’m giving you a fair warning, because you’re new here, but stay away from MY man, you got it?” Kara hissed at Soleil.

Ah. Soleil rolled her eyes internally and decided to play along.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Soleil replied while pushing Kara’s arm away from her, “But you are mistaken, apparently. I haven’t even had the chance to talk to most of the male teachers here, let alone steal them from somebody else.” She continued.

“Liar! You were flirting with Tanner earlier at lunch!” Kara’s face was flushed with anger.

Bingo. So Mina WAS right. Jeezus. Soleil thought of the earlier conversation with Tanner with a wry smile. “I don’t know how you gleaned anything from that conversation as “Flirting”… Soleil said while doing air quotation marks, “…but you know what? You tell your boyfriend to avoid talking to me if we don’t need to, and then you won’t have any problem.”

Kara stared at Soleil for a while before answering. “W-we’re not ACTUALLY together” she mumbled under her breath.

“Excuse me?? Are you saying you’re getting mad at me when you’re not even together with the guy?!” Soleil knew this of course, but she was gauging Kara’s reaction.

“I’m just nervous because, well, because you’re pretty and I thought that maybe you were into Tanner, too.” Kara continued to mumble her anger dissipated.

“Look”, Soleil started, “You should tell Tanner you like him, and you know, try to work things out with him, instead of attacking every girl he’s ever been in a conversation with. That would be the normal way.” Soleil said all of this calmly.

Kara, deflated, said “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders and pouted. “But please, stay away from him. You don’t want to tempt him.” She said sullenly. “I’ll go ahead.” She added, and then she pulled herself away from Soleil and went towards the door to the H.E. room for the meeting.

Soleil, dumbfounded, just stood there gaping like a fish. She collected her thoughts and followed Kara into the meeting.

“To welcome Ms. Soleil into the department, shall we raise our glasses to a toast?!” our department head, sir Douglas Ponte exclaimed.

“Cheers!” the whole department answered. Most of them were warm and friendly, some of the male teachers were too friendly, in fact. But everyone seemed nice enough. The obvious exception was Kara, who glared at Soleil from across the table, but smiled at her when everyone was looking.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, I can show you around if you want.” Winked the P.E. teacher, Jerry Castor at Soleil. Soleil just smiled wanly. “Thank you”, she replied. She didn’t want to seem like she was uptight.

All throughout the meeting, Soleil could feel Kara’s glare boring into her, she pointedly ignored Kara’s stares and mutterings and focused on talking to her other co-teachers in her department. She was particularly enjoyed speaking with Ms. Carmen, the H.E. teacher. She was a big person with a bubbly personality and loved laughing. Her face turns really pink when she laughs heartily, and Soleil found it adorable.

After the meeting, Soleil was feeling more and more comfortable with her co-teachers, and her new job. It was definitely tiring, but it was also rewarding. The whole day was spent introducing herself to her students and other co-teachers in different departments, and so far, everything was going well. She even stood up for herself against Kara. Soleil promised herself that she was not going to get caught up in any drama.

The next few weeks went by fast, with classes taking most of Soleil’s time, and preparing for each activity for her students, with meetings and assemblies in between. Everything went by in a blur, but Soleil was pretty much used to it by now. Her classes were going well, and it seemed like her students liked her fairly well, as she did. Even class 10-D, the chaotic class, didn’t give her much headache.

It was the last Friday of the first month of school, and the teachers were busy preparing for extra-curricular activities for the students. Soleil and Mina decided to run a theatre group and on the day of the club signups they soon discovered that not many were interested in theater, so Mina and Soleil were losing hope, they needed at least 5 members, and they only had 2 so far. It was nearing the end of the signup deadline, and although there were many students to pass by their booth, there weren't many who signed up.

Soleil sat down and sighed, “This is embarrassing, we can’t even get 5 students to sign. What’ll we do?” Mina shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to Soleil. She looked so sullen.

From across the gym, Soleil saw Tanner looking at her and smiling hesitantly, she could see him surrounded by a gaggle of girls, and some boys as well. Their club seemed to be doing well. She tried to smile back, but then she saw Kara approach him, saw him looking at Soleil, and then she made a beeline towards Soleil instead.

“What’s up, ladies? Having trouble getting members? How sad.” Kara said condescendingly.

“Hey Kara, no need to rub it in our face,” Mina complained. Kara laughed and waved her hand. “Well, we could use more teachers for the Astronomy club. Maybe you want to merge with our club?” her expression was haughty and Soleil felt exasperated.

“We still have time. Please move over a bit Ms. Kara, so the students can see our booth better.” Soleil said. Kara scoffed and scooted a bit more to the side to give way. “Like that’ll help.” She said under her breath.

Soleil rolled her eyes and looked at Mina, who suppressed a giggle, she was about to say something when a large group of students came forward, led by Parker. “Hey, saems! We wanna sign up!” he said enthusiastically.

“Really?! You’re serious?? Please don’t be joking.” Mina said while grabbing Parker by the cheeks. Parker laughed and looked at Soleil. “Yes’m! Sir Tanner said to join your club, and he’ll give us some extra points for Math.” He explained. Kara almost broke her neck by suddenly glancing at Parker’s direction, she was glaring and huffing loudly that Parker noticed, “You okay miss Kara? You seem annoyed.”

Kara stomped away and went out of the gym. Parker shrugged and looked at Soleil, he then bent down and whispered additionally, “I think sir Tanner likes you Soleil saem.” Parker gave Soleil a weird look and bent down to sign up for their club.

“Thanks, guys, but you don’t need to sign up if you really don’t want to,” Soleil said.

“We’re good miss, it’s kinda interesting as well. But I think I’ll skip acting and sign up for props instead.” Parker replied.

The rest of the students, about 8 of them in total, signed up as well. They were talking excitedly and seemed genuinely interested, so Mina was super happy.

“That went well! Yaaaaaas!” Mina exclaimed happily. They were walking back towards the faculty room when Parker suddenly stood in front of them, smiling broadly.

“Hey Mina saem, is it okay if I speak with Soleil saem for a bit?” he asked.

“Sure, I’ll go ahead Soleil, catch you later,” Mina said and waved goodbye to both Parker and Soleil.

“What’s up, Parker?” Soleil turned to Parker. They have gotten quite chummy over the past couple of weeks, and although they only had a class once a week, they run into each other on a daily basis, and most times, end up chatting with each other along with some of Parker’s friends. They were a nice bunch - funny and very playful, so Soleil enjoyed spending time with them.

“Saem, I’m hungry.” He said cutely. Soleil laughed and playfully hit Parker on the arm. “Is that why you’re alone and not with your gang? So you could extort food from me? C’mon.” she berated.

Soleil dragged Soleil into the cafeteria and they ordered some fries and coke, sat down on a bench, and started eating. “Seriously though saem, I was going to ask you something.” Parker began.

“Sure, what do you need?” Soleil looked at Parker and although his smile was playful, there seemed to be a hint of sadness behind it.

“I know you’re new saem, but as I said, you seem different and I’m more comfortable with you, so it’s easy for me to open up to you. There’s this girl I like, and well… I was thinking of asking her out. How should I do it?” Parker asked nervously. 

Soleil smiled brightly at Parker. “Aw, Parker! That’s sweet of you to say, although it might just be sir Tanner being nice. Anyway, who is this girl?” she asked.

“Michelle. Michelle Sugihara, the half-Japanese, half-Filipino student in our class, she’s really pretty, quiet, and nice, and comes from a good family. I’m kinda embarrassed because it’s not like I’m rich or anything.” Parker complained. “and anyway saem, I really think sir Tanner likes you. But he’s too… serious I guess? While you’re bright and warm, like, you have a sunny personality.” He added.

“I guess that’s why I was named Soleil?” Soleil replied. “Soleil means sun, you know?” she added, as a way of explaining.

“Really? Then your nickname should be Sunny then, haha!” Parker laughed. I’ll call you Sunny saem from now on. He joked.

Soleil laughed and hit Parker on the arm again. “Look, Parker, if you want her to know how you feel, then you should just say it. You know, just be yourself and say it. If it’s hard for you to say it in person, why don’t you write her a love letter instead? That way, you can say it clearly and you won’t have to stutter.” She joked.

“That’s actually a great idea miss. I think writing letters has been underestimated for too long. It’s more romantic that way, isn’t it?” Parker jumped from his seat and smiled excitedly. “Okay! Thanks, saem, I’ll start right away? See you tomorrow!” he said while jogging away.

“Hey! You didn’t finish your fries! Ya!” Soleil shouted at him. Too late. She thought, smiling while shaking her head. Ah. Young love.

Soleil was about to stand up when Tanner appeared in front of her looking serious. Uh-oh, Soleil thought.